BURN IT DOWN
ADAPTED FROM DAVID ROVICS
Young Muslim – Babar Ahmed – arrested 2003
He’d given money to a Palestinian charity
He had some radical opinions – a family and a wife
Now they want to keep Babar behind bars for the rest of his life
You see he filed a complaint about police brutality
Had some dangerous thoughts about things like peace and liberty
It seems your story can’t win unless it’s one that you can spin
So will this song make a difference if we make enough din?
Singing:
We don’t like the MI6 we’re going to burn it down
State-sponsored terrorists – drive ‘em out of town
We’ll bring a lot of gasoline, pour it on the floor
Light a match, say a prayer, and then run right out the door
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down,
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down
If you just sang that chorus then you just broke the law
To be a terrorist now you’ve just got to flap your jaw
And hey who knows – before you have the chance to blink
Whether you’re a criminal might depend on what you think
Back then they came for Babar, maybe next they’ll come for you
Let me tell you what I think all of us could do
Sing this song with me, raise your fists and caterwaul
If we all fight together then they can’t arrest us all
But we don’t like Woodward prison and we’re going to burn it down
There’s an innocent man in there crushed under the crown
We’ll bring a lot of gasoline and pour it on the floor
Light a match, say a prayer and then run right out the door
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down,
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down
My friends said “Maybe he really was guilty”
I said “Where’s the evidence?” They said “On the BBC”
Face it, the media ruin anyone they just pick and choose
They’ll always find a scapegoat, just go and ask Fox News
“You can have a voice on anything!”“Except the things that matter!”
And if you act on your opinions you’re likely to get battered
“Do you like labour or the tories?” “I don’t give a shit
But I’m not so pleased to see our lives couped up bit by bit”
But we don’t like the apartheid wall and we’re going to burn it down
Racist nation-states don’t deserve exclusive towns
We’ll bring a battering ram and batter back the hate
Fuck it’s the 21st century – let’s incinerate the gate!
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down,
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down x 2
He’d given money to a Palestinian charity
He had some radical opinions – a family and a wife
Now they want to keep Babar behind bars for the rest of his life
You see he filed a complaint about police brutality
Had some dangerous thoughts about things like peace and liberty
It seems your story can’t win unless it’s one that you can spin
So will this song make a difference if we make enough din?
Singing:
We don’t like the MI6 we’re going to burn it down
State-sponsored terrorists – drive ‘em out of town
We’ll bring a lot of gasoline, pour it on the floor
Light a match, say a prayer, and then run right out the door
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down,
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down
If you just sang that chorus then you just broke the law
To be a terrorist now you’ve just got to flap your jaw
And hey who knows – before you have the chance to blink
Whether you’re a criminal might depend on what you think
Back then they came for Babar, maybe next they’ll come for you
Let me tell you what I think all of us could do
Sing this song with me, raise your fists and caterwaul
If we all fight together then they can’t arrest us all
But we don’t like Woodward prison and we’re going to burn it down
There’s an innocent man in there crushed under the crown
We’ll bring a lot of gasoline and pour it on the floor
Light a match, say a prayer and then run right out the door
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down,
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down
My friends said “Maybe he really was guilty”
I said “Where’s the evidence?” They said “On the BBC”
Face it, the media ruin anyone they just pick and choose
They’ll always find a scapegoat, just go and ask Fox News
“You can have a voice on anything!”“Except the things that matter!”
And if you act on your opinions you’re likely to get battered
“Do you like labour or the tories?” “I don’t give a shit
But I’m not so pleased to see our lives couped up bit by bit”
But we don’t like the apartheid wall and we’re going to burn it down
Racist nation-states don’t deserve exclusive towns
We’ll bring a battering ram and batter back the hate
Fuck it’s the 21st century – let’s incinerate the gate!
Burn it down, burn it down, we’re going to burn it down,
Burn it down, burn it down, burn it down x 2